Hopefully, most people will have a little bit of time to get away from the regular grind of working at some point this coming year. Even in tougher economic times, taking a vacation is still an important part of life, especially if it means getting to see family members and being able to manage stress. However, sometimes in the rush to excitedly jet off, whether it’s for an entire two weeks or just a weekend, important details of life get missed. There’s nothing more stressful than sitting back in your seat on a plane only to realize you left the coffee pot on, and that’s nowhere near the worst case scenario!
Thankfully, a little bit of planning ahead can leave your home safe during any vacation, and many of the tips for vacation planning can be applied to general home security long after you’ve returned home. For starters, be sure to actually allow yourself enough time to get ready to leave the house for an extended amount of time. Make a list of everything you want to get done: have you remembered to pack everything you need? Turn off all of the electronic devices that you were supposed to? Instead of getting overwhelmed, just consult the list.
Then there’s the matter of what or who will protect your house when you’re gone. If there is a trusted neighbor, let them know that you will be out of town and ask them kindly to please let you know if anything is amiss. Provide a phone number where you can be reached in the event that your neighbor needs to get in touch with you. Also, do not forget to cancel or put on hold both the mail service and the newspaper service. A stack of mail and newspapers on a front porch is like the Bat Signal for would-be robbers and crooks.
Remembering to set your home alarm system before leaving is also a crucial element to preparing your home for a vacation. After all, if you have an alarm at home, it will only be able to do its job if you remember to turn it on. Another part of the alarm functioning properly is a thorough look at all of the doors and windows of the house. If they are closed and locked securely, then the alarm will definitely sound in the event of a security breach. Don’t forget about smaller windows, like those to attics or basements. Burglars are just as likely to break in through those windows as they are the windows on the first or second stories of your house.
Don’t turn off all of the lights while you’re on your quest to turn off electronic devices. A major component of home security is the sense that your home is not abandoned. Nothing helps to present the illusion that someone is, in fact, home, like lights going on and off at different times throughout the day. Another way to really help with the appearance that there are occupants to the house is to leave a car in the driveway, if possible. For some reason, a car in the driveway really does give the impression that there is someone home in a way that things like motion-activated outdoor lighting just doesn’t.
A little bit of planning ahead before traveling, and there’s no need for you to worry about home security while lounging on a beach or spending quality time with relatives you don’t see nearly enough. And best of all, many of the tips you employ while on the road will work just as well once you return home.